Controller for paper-handling machines.



H. 0. LA BATT. CONTROLLER FOR PAPER HANDLING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED 11110.17, 19oz. RENEWED JAN. 10, 1910.

968,063. v Patented Aug.23, 1910.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. 0. LA BATT.

CONTROLLER FOR PAPER HANDLING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.17, 1902. RENEWED JAN. 10, 1910. 968,063, Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

' 6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

wil RS III H. 0. LA BATT.

CONTROLLER FOR PAPER HANDLING MACHINES. APPLIOATION mum 12110.17, 19oz. nnnwnn um. 10, 1910.

968,063. I Patented Aug. 23, 1910.1 I 6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Z agmImm /m I $Q ihgvlllillli H. 0. LA BATT CONTROLLER FOR PAPER HANDLING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED DEO.17, 1902. RENEWED JAN. 10, 1910.

968,063. Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

s BHEETB-SHBET 4. o b I :1 B a r? k T v H. 0. LA BATT. CONTROLLER FOR PAPER HANDLING MACHINES. 1 APPLICATION FILED DBO. 11 1902. nnunwnnux. 10, 1910.

968,063. Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

UNITED STATES PATENT oniuon.

HOMER C. LA BATT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO-WILLIAM J. HERRICK, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CONTROLLER FOR PAIGE-HANDLING macnnins.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 23,1910.

Application filed December 17, 1902, Serial No. 185,529. Renewed January 10, 1910. Serial No; 537,336.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOMER C. LA BA'rr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and Stateof Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Controllers for Paper-Handling Machines, (Case 1 No. 4,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to controlling devices adapted to be associated with machines for handling paper, such as feeders, folders, printing presses, calendering and like machines.

' One object of the invention is to provide a new and improved form of stop-device which will stop the machine with which it is associated when more than thenormal predetermined thickness of paper is in the machine.

Another'object is to provide a stop-device which will stop the machine when for any reason no paper is present.

Another object is to provide a combined no-sheet and plurality-sheet stop-device.

A furtherv object of the invention is to rovide a combined sto and start mechanism, which is operate manually for the latter function, and manually or automatically for the former function.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from -thedescription and the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplification of my invention, associated for convenience with a sheetfeeding machine-Figure 1 is a front View in elevation of a sheet-feeding machine provided with my improvements, parts being broken away for clearness of illustration; -Fig. 2 is a part side view and part sectional I view in elevation of parts of the machine of Fig. 1, the view being taken from the right hand side thereof; Fig. 3 is a view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4.is a View in cross-section of the stationary member of the controller; Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is'a detail front View of the cooperating lips and tongue and the carriage for the latter, with a sheet of paper between the lips and tongue; Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6, showing the same parts in the same positions; 'Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view similar to Fig. 7, but showing the parts in their secondary or closed position when a normal thickness. of paper is between the lips and tongue; Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view similar to Fig. 8 but showing the position of the parts when paper of abnormal thickness is interposed between the lips and tongue; Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view similar to Fig. 9, and

showing the lips and tongue opened orseparated; Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10, and showing the positions ofthe parts when the tongue is moved "into the mouth between the" lips and no paper is interposed between them; F ig.-12 is a diagrammaticview illustrating the various electrical circuits and.

associated devices; Fig. 13 is a detail view of a form of clutch that may be employed, parts thereof being shown in section; Fig. 14 is a detailview showing the driven element of the clutch in elevation; Fig. 15 is. a detail view in elevation of the driving iew of the catch of Fig. 13; and Fig. 17 is aperspective View of the pinofFig. 13...

.In the drawings the reference letter A denotes the frame of any suitable machine with which the device is to be associated, and

is of suitable form and dimensions for the.

various operating parts.

While my invention is applicable to any of the various types of machines which handle paper for any purpose, I have shown it in connection with a sheet-feeding machine as illustrating a convenient and useful application thereof.

' The vertically-movable paper-table a carries a supply of paper, usually in the form of loose sheets. a, which are fed one at a time by any suitable. mechanism (not shown), and are ejected from the machine by suitable devices, such as the front feed rolls a and a which are mounted on suitable shafts at and a and cooperate in any suitable manner. The roller-shafts are driven from any suitable through-shaft, as a", by means of intermediate gearing a. The shaft a receives its motion from any suitable source through an intermediate clutch I, of any suitable form, mounted upon an extension or stub a of the throughshaft and driven from any suitable motor. The clutch is controlled by any suitable means, as by the operating or controlling node, which slides in suitable guides a on one side of the main frame. The controlling rod stands normally in such position element of the clutch; Fig. 16 is a detail that does not affect the clutch, but "when I it is raised it operates to unship'theclutch to stop the machine; The controll ng .rod

el'is operated by means" of a lever a, to

[the outer free end of which it is attached,

theinner end ofthe lever being suitably 4 'pivoted upon the machine. The lever con- 7 stituteslthe armature-ofasuitable'electro magnetM, thecore or pole-piecesl of which are in operative relation thereto, as shown in Figs. 1 and 12.; It isobv-ious that when an electriccurrent, is caused to flow through Ythetcoils of theielectromagnet jM,f1ts core g will-be magnetized'f'to'draw up the armaturelever .a ,,'and;the controlling-rod will co-act with "theLGlut ch to unship the latter, where the isha'ftqa f is detached fromftheconstantlyrunningordriving meniberlt of the i Th 00 11 "or .atheistop-magnet M is in a normally open circuit including a suitable battery or other source of electrical;.energy,

as shown in F igs; '1 and 12. This circuit is open; at the'lip member B and tongue C, by which it is made and brokenaswill be presently described in detail. The-lip mem er B and tong eC are mounted at: any

- suitable point:in thepath of thepaper. In

1 Lt'he exemplification'shown inthe drawings,

they-are mounted near the front of the 1 machine and immediately in therearof the .ejectingsrolls, in such position that the paper above the'path ofthe 1 to allow the movable, tongue Gto tweenrthem, all as shownin Figs. 7

- and bton a carriage'C,

' in suitable guides or ways 0 on the machine Y -which enter's'lots-in-the head 0 suitable strip 0 passes between them as itis fed out of the ma hineLTheLIip' member :-B, "is held; inv cfixedgposition with respect to the 'li'nejof travel .of 'the paper, and isnormally just pape The ong 0, is 'mounted' toi'reciprocate toward and away from the stationary 'lip,member. The .lip

member '13 is supported. in any suitable I manner,a's by means 0t a'bracket b-attached to any suitable part of the machine,jgand is" composed of a pair of curved angular lips b and b which are adjustable toward and away from each other, for a purpose hereinafter described, and which are always separated a suflicientdistanceto form a mouth enter'beto 11.. The movable tongue C is carried 'inalinement with the mouth formed by, the lips I) which reciprocates frame. The carriage ismoved by any suitable 'm eans,be1 ng timed to reach its upward 1 stroke or'; limit; to close the tongue'and lips f Y together"whenthe p'aper isfstationary between the. same,

feeder, at the-moment before the ejector for 'example,'in a sheetrollers lactruponthe sheet. The tongue G is movably mounted on the carriage C, and

issupported by means of guide pins 0, carried by the carriage and insulated therefrom by a of insulating material.

strips of insulating material,

(land the terminal a r is reciprocated; The stroke causes th'ertongue G to enter the mouth shown in "tongue C against the force but the paper will be bent in the mouth of the lips band b as shown -in the depress the mouth formed One of the guide pins is provided with an adjustable collar 0*, which is threaded upon the shank of the pin,and between which and a suitable-part of thehead is interposed a coiled spring 0 which serves to. maintain the tongueC in yielding position in extension of the carriage. The head 0 carries; an

insulated terminal 0, Whichis within the path of and contacts with a terminal 0 of "the tongue C,,when the latter is moved on the head against the. tension of; the spring 0". ,The head is connected withone end of the coil of the electromagnet M, asfby a conductors l5 and. 16 being broken away in Fig. 1 for convenience of illustration. It is obviousthat the terminal a" of the tongue of the head constitute the terminals of a normally open circuit including the electromagnet M and a suitable battery, and when these terminals are caused to contact the current will fiowifrom' the battery through the magnet-coil, and the armature-lever a will raise the-rod a? to unship the clutch. These terminals are brought into register; or contact by the resistance'of the paperwhen the carriage C of the carriage formed by; the li sb and 6 as clearly ig. 8,t e paper being interposed between the tongue and lips, and preferablybeing at that time stationar If paper of normal predetermined thickness is in the "path of the moving tongue, as for example in Fig 8, the resistance of the paper is not great enough to depress the of its spring 0 and a" to contact, or deflected withto cause-the terminals 0 in Fig. 8, and the circuit through the mag net M will not be closed.-' However, when paper of greater thickness, as for example when. two or more sheets movetogether, is path of the tongue C, as in Fig. 9, the resistance of the paper is sufficient to the tongue 0 against theforce of its spring a, until the terminal a" of the tongue contacts with'the terminal 0 of the head, as shown in Fig. 9, when thecircuit will be completed through the stop-magnet M, with the result above stated. are adjustable to make between them wide or The lips I) and b narrow according to the character of the stock handled by the machine. For example, when paper that iseasily bent or deflected is employed, as for newspaper work,

surface within which to yield.. To providefor this adjustment, one or both of the lips may be made movable. .The lips are carried on blocks 6 and, as shown in Figs. 4

and 5, the bracket 7) is provided with under? cut grooves or ways 6 in which the beveled edges 6 of the blocks?) slide. The blocks are adjusted and held in'adjustedpositions by a right and left hand screw b, whichis mounted in a portion if of the bracket'and engages suitably threaded openings .in upturned portions b of the'blocks. The rear lip is preferably provided with a cli. b, which is pivoted to the outer edge 0 the lip and is held iii-adjusted position by a set screw 12 as shown in Fig. 4. Theouter or free end of the clipis in alinement with the mouth. At times the paper, especially when light stock is used, will curl up at its front edge and have a tendency to enter the mouth. The clip guides the paper over the opening, from the lips. The'clip is in the form of a light sp ing,.and when the tongue moves upwardly, it. readily turns on its pivot or yields'to fold close up against thelip b as shown in Fig. 8. a

In order to utilize the device asa stopmechanism when no paper is between the tongue and lips, I electrically connect the lip member B by a conductor 17 to the same end of the magnet coil as the wire 16 connects,

this being arranged in any suitable manner, as for example, as shown in Fig. 12. When the tongue C is at the limit of its stroke, its terminals 0 which are in electrical continuity of the conductor 15, contact with opposite terminals 6 on one of the lips, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12, and complete the circuit throu h the stop-magnet M. It will be observed that the paper forms an insulation for the terminals and b when stock is present in the machine, as in Figs. 8 and 9, and that when no stock is present the terminals 0 and b cooperate, while the depression of the tongue C is not then sufiicient to close the contact through the'terminalsc and 0 all as shown in Fig. 11. The movement of the tongue C upon the head in the operation illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11 is very slight, so'the terminals 0 and a do not register to close their circuit.

The carriage C is reciprocated by any suitable means. In the exemplification shown it is provided with a headed pin 0", which engages a cam groove d in a reciprodefiecting it somewhat away.

rating slide 1), which is suitably guided on the machine frame and is moved by a pendulum lever d, which is pivoted to the frame at d and is operated by a suitable cam LP.

The motion of'the carriage may be provided by any suitable means.

Any suitable clutch may be provided between the motor. andthe shaft a, but as I prefer to throw the clutch both on and ofi' by; means of the controller a", in order to provide a combined stopping and starting device, I provide a clutch that is opened by the controller or rod moving in onedirection of its movement and closed by the rod moving in the opposite direction. For this purpose the. controller is-held ina balanced position by the spring a surrounding the rod and interposed between a guide (1. and an adjustable collar a on the rod. By this means the controller is balanced in: position, and when moved in either direction will re turn to its normal central position. The head a of the controller is provided with a lateral cam-face a andwith a peripheral cam-face a" that is eccentric to the shaft a A clutch suitably adapted for the purposes herein set forth is shown in detail in Figs. 13 to 17, and comprises a disk I, which is suitably keyed to the shaft a, and a driving member 1 which is loosely mounted on the projecting end or stub a of the shaft and is constantly rotated by any suitable means, as the gear wheel i, being held on the stub by a suitable collar, all as shown in Fig. 13. v The disk I is provided on its operative face with a lateral flange 2' which is cut away or recessed at any suitable point to form a seat 2', having one wall or face abrupt for its full depth, as ate, and the other wall or face abrupt for a portion of its depth and then developing intoan incline i. The driving member I is in the form of a rotating sleeve, and is provided on its inner the disk I. 'The pin is provided witlra.

pocket 2" in its'rear end, which receives a protracting spring 2'", bearing between the base of the pocket and the inner wall of the recess of the sleeve to eject the pin when it is released. The pin is provided on its outer face with a stop or led e 71 which fits in a correspondingly shape cutaway of the recess i and' holds the pin from turning as well as limiting its inward movement. The

.p in is clearly shown in the. detail view of ig. 17. The stop is formed with an angular shoulder 2' on its outerface, and is provided with a-crosscut i" in its upper side, forming a recess. The sleeve I is provided with a radial standard 71, having a bracket @1 at or near its outer end, against which one end of a coiled spring 11 bears, its opposite end bearing on a catch 2'", uided in the standard and provided with a pm i, about which the the revolution of the sleeve will pass upthe spring is coiled. [The catch'is providedl withalug 2' on its lowerend, having an inclined or rounded rear face i ",a al

front shoulder i ,these parts being-shown more vclearlyzin the detached view; of Fig.2 l6 Whenthe parts are inthe position of Fi 13, themembersofthe clutch aretdisengage p and as the sleeve;v or1drivingmember I revolves,-the projection or .shoulderi passes outside of and beyondthe eccentric face a, and'does not contact with the head.. If now the controller is'lowered', by; moving the rod a? downward, it will pro ect thee-eccentric,

facelai, on the under surface of, the head, into the path of the shoulder 0: which in incline :of the face, wherebyithe'catch 1Z is raised against its .spring to withdraw the lug: i1? 'from engagement :with the recess 4?", and the pin z'I-is thereby unlatched': and. is then ipro ected by.its'spring i against the flange i? and passes down the incline:.,-z' intothe seat 21? as the sleeverotates, to lock the I of- ;theftongueiandlips. When the machine is tobestopped, the rod (l is raised, whereby- .the lateral came of the headv is projected" 7 into: the path 'IOfLthG' angular shoulder 71, and as the sleeverotates the cam retracts the pin 77 untilthe spring-pressed lock?? again H then held in retracted'position, and the parts;

sleeve and disk together. to rotate the shaft a. "The partsyremai'n in thisrelation", Where-:-

by the shaft ea is driven, until the machine is stopped either by the manual operation of theyattendantor by the automatic operation engages its seat 6 The locking 'pin' i is ofthe cln'tch' areidisconnected. a

, In theexemplification shown it is obvious that-the unshipping of the clutch is produced by the action of the stop-ma et M 7 upon the armature-lever a by closlng the circuit through this magnet either-from the" "stop-button'F or from; either-of the 'two sets of; terminals on the, tongue and lips. It is also apparent that the movementiof the controller to lock the members of the clutch 7' together may be accomplished byany suitin the appropriate direction, and as a.con-..

able means which will draw the controller venient way of accomplishing this function Iprovide the starting magnet M, which-is in a'normall'y open circuit-controlled by the 7 starting-button F;

In order to allow "the operator to stop the machine, I provide a switch at any .con-

venient placeandwhich may be of anysuit able type; In thedrawings, I have shown a push-button F. bearing upon a' spring-terminal f, whichis connected to one end of the magnet-coil M, as by means of a conductor 17 15, andwhich maybe caused to contact with a second terminal f (such as a portion of the machineeframeysuitably connected to the other end of the-magnet-coilas by a conductor 18- l6,' whereby the circuit is closed 7 through the stop-magnet. In-order to provide convenient means to start the machine,

I mount the starting magnet'M with its core f OTT'POlQ-PIGCGS 1n operative. relation to the lever-armature a", so as to draw the latter in the oppositedirection from the movement imparted to it'by the magnet M. "A convenient way of arranging-these elements is shown inFigs. l and '12, where the ma nets are upon oppositesides ofthe armatureever being s'uppor'tedby a suitable bracket m. The'startlng-magnet' M is included in a normally open circuit with a battery, preferably the samebattery as "supplies current to: the stop-magnet, by tying one of its coil ends to the wire 16, as'shown in-Fig. 12," which then leads throughhe battery and thence by the 100 18 to the frame terminal ft: The other en of the coil of theelectromagnet M is connected bya-conductor :19

.tola. spring-terminal 7" which is adapted to ,be depressed against the terminal f? by a starting-button ,F,'; tofclose the circuit i through the starting-magnet M. The several circuits areshown in the diagrammatic View in-Fig 12..

While I haveshown m1 described a form of clutch adapted to start and stop the shaft,

and abalanced controller for the clutch, it is obvious that I may employ any'other suitable mechanism for this purpose; also, that I may employ a clutch adapted to be un-. shipped only by the associated mechanism,

being lockedmanually. I do not herein specifically claim the clutch disclosed, but

only as it broadly enters into certain combinations, reserving this feature for aseparate application. I

7 It is a.pparent that when'no paper is between the tongue and 1i s the circuit.

ried by the moving tongue to energize the stop-magnet, jthe .device being sensltive enough to respond to the resistance of the abnormal supply. The resistance of the paper is'adjusted and varied bytherelatively movable lips of the fixed 1i member, which acts-as an-abutment or bac ing.

The. embodiment of the .various features of my invention maybe changed and varied Without departing from the scope thereof, and it may be applied and employed with any machine acting upon or manipulating sheets or webs of paper.

'- I make no claim inthis application to the clutch-herein'shown, the same forming the tively relatively to the lips, the said tongue and carriage being provided with normally separated terminals adapted to be closed by the actionof the paper to operate the stop mechanisn'i.

2. The combination with a paper-hair dling machine, and an electromagnetic stop therefor, of a pair of lips. atongue cooperating with the lips to close the circuit when no paper is present,a positively moved carriage on which the tongue is mounted, and a pair of terminals on the tongue and carriage adapted to close said circuit by the action of paper present between the tongue and lips.

3. The combination with a paper-handling machine having a shaft, of an electromagnetic controller therefor, means to manually energize the magnets thereof to start and stop the shaft, and means controlled by the paper to stop the shaft.

4. In a paper-handling machine, the combination with a shaft. a clutch therefor. and a controller to open and close the clutch, of an electromagnetic device whose armature operates the controller, and means controlled by the paper to close a circuit through the magnet.

5. In a paper-handling machine, the combination with a shaft, a clutch therefor, and a controller to open and close-the clutch, of a pair of elwtromagnets having a common armature to operate the controller in opposite directions, manual means to close a circuit through either magnet, andmeans controlled by the paper to close a circuit through one of the magnets.

(3. In a paper-handling machine, the com bination with a shaft, a clutch therefor. and a controller to open and close the clutch, of a pair of electromagnets having a common armature to operate the controller in opposite directions. means to manually close the circuit through the starting-magnet, and means controlled by the paper to close the circuit through the stop-magnet.

7. In a paper handling machine, the combination with a shaft, of an, electromagnet stop device therefor, a pair of stationary lips providing a mouth, a positively moved tongue alined with the mouth, means to energize the magnet when no sheet is present,

' and means controlled by the positively moved tongue to energize the magnet when an abnormal thickness of paper is present between the tongue and stationary, member.

8. In a paper-handlingmachine, the combination with a shaft, of an electromagnetic stopdevice therefor, a pair of lips and a tongue in electrical extension of the magnet,

andmeans to move the tongue to close the circuit through the lips.

9. In a paper handling machine, the combination with a shaft, of an electromagnetic stop-device therefor, a stationary member comprising a pair of lips, atongue in electrical extension of the magnet, means to move the tongue between the lips, and means on the tongue toclose the circuit when an abnormal thickness of paper is presented betweenthe tongue and lips.

10. In a paper-handling machine, the combination with a shaft, of an electromag netic stop device therefor, a stationary member provided with a pair of lips, a tongue between which and the lips the paper passes, a carriage on which the tongue is mount 1 means to actuate the carriage to move the tongue betweenthe lips, and a normally open circuit including the magnet 'and adapted to be closed through the tongue and carriage whenan abnormal thickness of paper is interposed between the tongue/and lips.

11. In a paper handling machine, the

combination with a shaft, of an electromagnet stop device therefor, a pair of stationary lips, a movable tongue, means to move the tongue between the lips, a carriage on which the tongue is yieldingly mounted, and terminals of a. normally open circuit including the magnet and adapted to be closed by the movement of the tongue between the lips.

12. In a stop-device for paper machines, the combination with a controller, of a tongue, and a member cooperating therewith and provided with lips adjustable with reference to each other; v

13. In a stop mechanism, a movable tongue and a carriagetherefor, a stop magnet terminals on the tongue and carriage adapted to be closed bythe action of the paper to close the circuitth'rough the stop magnet, a pair oflips providing a mouth to receive the tongue and one of which lips is adjustable with reference to the other.

11. In a stop-device, a movable tongue, and a relativelyfixed member having adjustable lips between which the tongue is adapted to move- 15. In a stop'device, a movable tongue, a relatively fixed \ihe'mber comprising a pair of lips providingi at mouth .to receive the tongue, and a guide-for the paper at the mouth.

16. In a stop mesh 'nism, the combination with an electroniagd etio stop device, of a stationary member comprising a. pair of lips providing a mouth, a reciprocating ton ue adapted to enter the mouth, and a; yieldmg paper guide carriedoby the stationary member and located at the mouth of the llps.

17.'.The combination .with. a paper handling ma'ohine, of an electromagnet' stop mechanism therefor, 21 member having a 3 mouth, a balanced tongue, and a pair f normally open tefminaieonnected with the 1'0 -stop magnet and adapted to be moved into contact by the resistanceof the paper.

. In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

i V HOMER Q LA BATT. WVitnesses:

' (WILLIAM. J. HERRICK,

V J. MCROBERTS. 

